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Replace two 9' doors with a single 16' door

rktompsett

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Sault Ste. Marie, MI
I bought a house built above the garage. What would be involved structure wise to remove the center column and the two 9' , and replace them with a single 16' door?
 

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gregtwojeeps

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Why ? Two 9's are a good choice of doors for a garage unless you are making it a one car.
 

ishiboo

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As Flange said, it would probably be best to go with an 18' door.

That's going to require a decent sized LVL/etc. to support the load, of which you may not have the headroom without significantly changing the second floor structure in the area of the floor joists/rim board/etc. if the height required of the LVL requires it to go up that high. A structural engineer can assist you.
 

Shiftless

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rk:
As others have said, it will be complicated and costly. I bet there are lots of other ways to spend the thousands of dollars this will end up costing on other improvements to the property. What is your main motivation for wanting a single door anyway? If you plan to park 2 cars inside, I think as greg said, the 2 nine foot wide doors will work better. Or make it a one car garage with some good shop space and board up the second garage door from the inside leaving the existing door there for appearances sake.
 
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kbs2244

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That looks like a post type elevated house because of high water or storm wave concerns.
If so, I would expect a supporting post is between the doors.
The same code the said they had to do it that way will say you cannot remove the post.
The post spacing is called out in the code.
 

pmiranda

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LOL. I don't think vette's are quite that wide. Maybe the wing on a new "extreme downforce package" Viper? Or totally a wakeboard boat trailer...
But yeah, it could cost a big chunk of money. Nothing is impossible with steel and a big budget.
 

JOHN 86GT

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I mis read it and thought he had 8 ft doors . Depending on trim it can be tight or too narrow with some cars and SUV s . I have a 8x18 and 8x9 . The extra two feet on 18 is nice due to the way the "other person " parks .
 

R6 Racer

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Interesting first post. Welcome to the G.J.

I have had both set ups (1x16' vs 2x9')
After experiencing both I will always go with the 2 9 footers.

IMHO, Save you cash, for anything else!

Unless there is a real specific reason/need for 1 big door dont do it.

Steve

P.S. - OP, you should register a general location in your profile. It will become relative many times.
 

pancho400cid

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I did essentially the same thing during a recent remodel. I highly recommend it depending on what you are doing in the garage.

Two doors is fine if you often park in the garage and don't do a bunch of work in the garage. Having two doors forces the vehicles to one side or the other and does not leave room for a workbench/storage along the wall if there are cars in there. I have a big car project going on and use the garage as a dedicated shop and don't park cars in it. Not ideal but the best I can manage right now.

The remodel contractor subbed out the door to a garage door company - I suggest that you talk to a company specializing in garage/overhead doors. They used a light steel beam to stiffen the header over the door. In my case, the new wider door worked with the existing walls, etc. on the sides. The sub just removed the middle column and re-framed around the door. They shored up the header with minimal effort. It has worked out great for me. The double door thing was driving me nuts.

I'm in TX and the house is a single story ranch style, with minimal need for snow capacity etc. In your case it may well be a much bigger deal.
 
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LXCam

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As these guys pointed out the header width needs to increase to carry the load of the roof. Rule of thumb for wood has always been an inch per foot. So with that said you'd be looking at a 18" wide (height btw) beam. Obviously you need to confirm that with a structural engineer but basically do you have enough room for that without decreasing your headroom at the opening so much it's not practical.
 

James-W

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With a house above the garage you have the weight of the house as well as the weight of the roof to deal with. I suspect to do what you want would require some major structural changes and the cost would be quite high. If money is no object then I am sure it can be done.
 

rsanter

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It all depends on if that is currently one beam or two above the doors.
I have seen two singles that have a single beam across both spans.
If that is the case an engineer will tell you if that single beam is good for that load with no center support.

If it is two seperate beams then an engineer will tell you what you will need and it can be installed. They will have to support the upper level of the house to remove the exsisting beams and install the new beam.

My dad had this done on his two story house the exsisting beam appeared to be sagging and when we pulled the drywall we found that the sagging was because the beam was cracking from a natural defect point.
If I remember the cost for them to come jack up the floor of the second floor, remove the beam, install the new beam and finish things up was under $3000

Bob
 

WhiskeyRanger

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I had to go to an LVL header that was a few inches larger than the existing one, so lost a couple inches of door height. Mine was a detached garage, so it was probably a bit more straightforward than your situation. Regardless, it was a huge improvement and worth every penny.
 
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Shiftless

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Where is the O.P. on this? More than 2 days have gone by with 17 posts. Wouldn't it be nice to get some feedback from him? (Not a troll I hope...)
 

Mr onetwo

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2nd biggest mistake I made on my garage was the 16x8 ft door. It was a commercial 2" thick door and it still sags 3/4" in the middle of the top panel.Also wastes a lot of energy in the winter when I have to open it.
 

LB-1911

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Where is the O.P. on this? More than 2 days have gone by with 17 posts. Wouldn't it be nice to get some feedback from him? (Not a troll I hope...)

Just another driveby first threader.

It is certainly beginning to look that way.

Yes it is....

:see:

Last Activity: 07-06-2016 01:53 PM


07-06-2016, 01:53 PM
I bought a house built above the garage. What would be involved structure wise to remove the center column and the two 9' , and replace them with a single 16' door?
 

Shiftless

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^^^^^^^^^^^
Most likely scenario. :lol:
Under any other circumstances, a person would have by now logged on to thank the fellas who gave such valuable advise!
 

LXCam

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^^^^^^^^^^^
Most likely scenario. :lol:
Under any other circumstances, a person would have by now logged on to thank the fellas who gave such valuable advise!



Or at least a one fingered salute. Something. :dunno: :D
 
OP
R

rktompsett

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Sault Ste. Marie, MI
The two side walls inside make for a tight space when a truck f150 or car is parked inside. I only need it as a single car garage with work and entry space on both sides. The two 9' doors only gives 18" between vehicle and wall.
 

mitw44

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May 11, 2015
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Pryor, OK
Owning a house with a double door, I wish I had two single car doors. If you ever have trouble with the door, or the opener, you have no use of the garage. The chances of two openers going out at once aren't that great. Plus two single doors set the cars further apart so that the car doors can be opened. A lot of the so called two car garages I have seen are being optimistic when they say you can get two cars in there.
 

LXCam

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I have more confidence in asking a local contractor, instead of getting BS from you guys.


Well now that's a fine how-da-ya-do. You asked the question and you actually got some good responses. good luck.
 
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LB-1911

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I have more confidence in asking a local contractor, instead of getting BS from you guys.

The info below would have been beneficial in your initial post.

The two side walls inside make for a tight space when a truck f150 or car is parked inside.

I only need it as a single car garage with work and entry space on both sides. The two 9' doors only gives 18" between vehicle and wall.

A local contractor is going to tell you something along the lines of....

:see:

a really big glue lam beam. The size of which should probably be determined by a structural engineer
 
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